The Dying Swan
Prologue Once upon a time, there was a man who died. The man had the power to make stories come true, so his hands were cut off by the people, who were afraid of tragedies becoming reality. When the man died, the people heaved a great sigh of relief. As it turned out, however, when his hands were cut off, the man had been writing a story in his own blood. That was a story he could continue spinning even after he died, a story of the man himself. Story The Raven takes Rue – keeping her inside him so as to stop the Prince from sealing him since he will seal Rue also in the process. Mytho and Tutu work together to try and save her, with Mytho asking Tutu to return his last piece of heart and stating how he wishes to save Rue. However, when Tutu attempts to remove the pendant she finds she can’t take it off. The Raven gives Tutu till dawn to return the heart shard – caging the prince until then – whilst she runs off to find a way to remove it. Meanwhile, Fakir tries to write. Drosselmeyer appears in the room and forces him to write about Duck at the Lake of Despair and how she has to sacrifice her life to return the shard – the pendant is unable to be removed since she herself deep down does not wish the story to end. In order to break out of writing, Fakir stabs his hand with a letter opener that had a raven's head for a handle – breaking the power Drosselmeyer had over him. Fakir calls out to her, but the illusion disappears. Time begins to move again and Autor falls to the ground. Fakir frantically explains that Drosselmeyer appeared, at which Autor responds "Magnificent!" This angers Fakir and he grabs Autor by his shirt collar and raises his fist to him, but decides it's not worth the time and throws him to the side and runs off the rescue Duck. Meanwhile, Uzura stands at the edge of the lake calling out for an absent Duck. The entire town has turned into crows. Fakir runs out past the walls of the town and follows Uzura to the Lake of Despair. Diving in, he finds he can breathe underwater and finds Duck at the bottom who is still unable to remove the pendant. He calls out to her and she explains that the pendant won't come off and that she doesn't want the story to end. Fakir admits that nobody else, himself included, wants to see the story end. Fakir grabs Duck by the hand, inviting her to dance. He initiates an intimate Pas de Deux with her, explaining to her that it's okay to be herself and vowing that no matter what her form, he will love her and stay by her side forever. Fakir gently pushes Duck into the splits and leans towards her, their faces close. They look into each other's eyes and Fakir tells Duck "Let's go back to being our true selves." Duck nods and catches the pendant as it slips off. Fakir suggests they return the final heart shard to Mytho, but Fakir and Duck fall deeper into Despair, and see Rue dancing alone in the depths of despair preparing to die. Fakir assures Duck that Mytho will save her and they swim back to the surface. When they return to town, Fakir returns to write a story for Duck, who transforms into Tutu and returns the final heart shard to Mytho. And because she gave him her pendant, Duck says her goodbye to the prince in her human form, one last time before she turns back into a duck, permanently. The Prince learns of Duck's true form, and even so, he also returns to his true Prince form. Duck watches as Prince Mytho prepares to fight the Giant Crow Monster... The Final Battle has come. Trivia *'Subtitle': Romeo und Julia *People turn to crows, and Autor identifies it as "just like the Crow Festival Scene from The Prince and the Raven. *The pendant is only released when Duck's wishes are the same as Mytho's (as in, it's not just for his sake anymore, but for her own as well). *Return of the Prince's Sword. *Duck and Fakir's pas de deux in the Lake of Despair uses Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. ''The ballet, originally premiering in Czechoslovakia in 1938, has two well-known major stagings. The earlier (1940) is by Leonid Lavrovsky, a Soviet choreographer, for the Kirov Ballet; the later (1965) is by Sir Kenneth MacMillan for England's Royal Ballet. ''Princess Tutu draws its inspiration from the Lavrovsky version. The music is taken from the fifth movement ("Romeo and Juliet Before Parting") of Prokofiev's second Romeo and Juliet Suite. The dancing, however, is all set to that part of the movement which corresponds to Romeo and Juliet's parting pas de deux in the ballet -- the morning after their wedding night, the last time they dance with each other in life. Music *Prokofiev, Sergei: Romeo and Juliet: Act I, Scene 2 – “Balcony Scene” (latter section) *Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture *Wagner, Richard: Siegfried Idyll *Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition: Gnomus *Beethoven, Ludwig von: Coriolan Overture *Prokofiev, Sergei: Romeo and Juliet: Act III, Scene 6 – “Romeo and Juliet” *Prokofiev, Sergei: Romeo and Juliet: Act III, Scene 6 – The Last Farewell * Prokofiev, Sergei: Romeo and Juliet: Act III, Scene 6 – Interlude *Saint-Saëns, Camille: Carnival of the Animals: The Swan *Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich: Swan Lake: Act II, No.13 – Andante non troppo “Dance de cygnes” *Wagner, Richard: Siegfried Idyll *Beethoven, Ludwig von: Egmont Overture Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 Episodes